Sarajevo, 22 July 2023 - On Friday, July 21, the Father’s Festival was held at Wilson's Promenade in Sarajevo, as part of a campaign to promote gender-responsive family policies.
The Father’s Festival was intended for families, dads, moms and children and included various activities aimed at motivating fathers to be actively involved in the care of children, their upbringing, education and development, such as: changing their babies’ diapers, baby crawl race/crawling contest, fathers' baby stroller race, the quiz and many others. Mravko Travko and his team prepared a performance for children, and the Violeta company rewarded the participants with its products.
The event was part of the “Parenting Knows of No Gender” campaign, run by the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), and the Sarajevo Open Center (SOC), focusing on the promotion of engaged fatherhood and initiating discussions about the barriers faced by the fathers in Bosnia and Herzegovina in exercising their right to parental leave, which is guaranteed to them by the laws at all levels of administration.
A 2022 survey conducted by the Sarajevo Open Center shows that nearly 60 per cent of fathers are not aware of their right to parental leave, and only 2.6 per cent of them benefited from this right. Those who took parental leave encountered certain ambiguities and administrative barriers that slowed down the process of exercising this right. This can further discourage fathers from taking parental leave, which, in turn, can ultimately enhance an unequal distribution of care among the family members. In other words, the whole burden of care will fall on mothers who will, therefore, have to make an extra effort to balance family and professional life.
“In parallel, SOC is addressing the issue of maternity allowance and generally improving the legal and social conditions necessary for dignified motherhood. But this is not the only way to ensure a good-quality family and professional life for women. There will be no true gender equality so long as fathers do not have an adequate opportunity to participate in the care of their children, and one of the initial requirements for ensuring such opportunities is to enhance awareness at the level of society of the father's role in raising children and the fair redistribution of duties between the partners”, said Emina Bošnjak, Executive Director at SOC.
It is precisely because of the serious lack of information about the legal possibilities and guaranteed rights that the organizers want to raise the public awareness that both parents, by common consent, can take parental leave, which brings them many benefits - from strengthening their relationship, to creating and strengthening their relationship with the child, to higher household income.
“Men in BiH have a key role in promoting gender equality. Gender-responsive family policies are a key tool in this achievement through allowing paternity leave, parental leave, carers’ leave and implementing flexible working arrangements. In addition, these policies are seen as critical to mitigate the negative demographic trends in BiH and will assist the country to strengthen its demographic resilience”, said John Kennedy Mosoti, UNFPA Representative for BiH.
In the coming period, in their conversations with relevant institutions, UNFPA and SOC will continue advocating the flexibilization of maternity/parental leave through labor laws, social protection and gender-responsive family policies, in order to advance gender equality and the protection of the rights related to parenthood, paternity and motherhood.
For further information, please, contact:
UNFPA: Majda Prljača, at prljaca@unfpa.org or 061171673
SOC: Nejra Agić, at nejra@soc.ba
